Beijing, Dec. 26 (BNA): China reported the highest daily rise in domestic COVID-19 cases in 21 months as infections more than doubled in the northwest Chinese city of Xi’an, the latest coronavirus hot spot in China.
Official data showed, today, Sunday, that the city, which has a population of 13 million people, and entered the fourth day of closure, discovered 155 locally transmitted cases that showed confirmed symptoms on Saturday, up from 75 the previous day.
This brought the national daily tally to 158, the highest number since China managed to contain the nationwide outbreak in early 2020.
Xi’an, which reported 485 local asymptomatic cases from Dec. 9-25, has imposed strict measures to curb the outbreak, in line with Beijing’s policy that any outbreak should be contained as soon as possible.
Residents may not leave the city without the consent of their employers or local authorities, and multiple rounds of group testing have been conducted to identify cases.
The city has not reported any infections caused by the Omicron variant, although Chinese authorities have reported a small number of Omicron infections among international travelers and in southern China.
Including imported cases, mainland China confirmed 206 new cases on December 25, up from 140 the day before.
No new deaths were reported, bringing the cumulative death toll to 4,636. Mainland China had 101,077 confirmed cases as of December 25.
HF